Washington State League of Women Voters 2025 Convention Highlights
(Edited from notes sent in by our Snohomish County Delegates and Observers)
From Carolyn Miller
Kudos to Clark County for making good use of every minute! The Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, WA, featured meeting rooms and very nice accommodations. The concentrated schedule was a balanced mix of local history tours, work sessions, stellar speakers, workshops, and social networking.
Speakers included:
- Honorable Nick Brown, Washington State’s 19th Attorney General. He enjoys going to work every day and making a difference for the better.
- Vancouver City Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle.
- Willie Frank III. As founding CEO of Medicine Creek Tribal Strategies, he brought the Native American perspective.
- Susan Martin. Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University.
- Kate Starbird (yes, she previously played with Seattle Storm). Since 2012, she has been a U.W. Professor at the Dept. of Human Centered Design and Engineering. She is co-founder of UW Center for an Informed Public and shared her research on the timely topic of online misinformation and disinformation.
- LWVUS National President Dianna Wynn, who stressed that LWV’s strength is its grass roots base and leadership.
From Brenda Mann Harrison
Hearing Dianna Wynn, president of the US league, speak on several occasions was inspiring. She reassured us that the League can be political even though it is nonpartisan. Resisting threats to democracy is political, she said, but it is not partisan.
From Adrienne Fraley
I especially enjoyed the presentation regarding Billy Frank’s history and the Nisqually tribes.
From Jean Snider
The media workshop was by far the best of all the workshops, providing insights into the value of the stream of information we are bombarded with every day.
From Micke Fellows
I attended the workshop on the Elder Care Study at the 2025 conference. The workshop gave me a better idea of not only how the positions are developed, but also some of the ways they are put to use.
From Kate Lunceford
I attended the workshop "Does This Plastic Make Me Look Fat?" and learned that plastics have long been considered a problem of litter, climate change, and habitat destruction. More recently it is recognized as a problem for health. Recycling is not the answer! Most plastic is not recycled, but the recycling process requires more toxic releases. Plastic beverage bottles should be the focus of action. We must demand action by policy makers!
From Brenda Mann Harrison
I also was enlightened (and a bit frightened) by the presentation given by Dr. Kate Starbird, UW professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering. Her insightful research deserved the multiple standing ovations she received.
From Cathy Liu Scott
I enjoyed meeting other Leaguers from around the state and hearing about what they were doing. So much creativity. I brought back a couple of forms that I thought we could use to improve our communication and outreach.
By the way, the 2025-2026 Board nominees were voted into office. Congratulations to LWVWA President Karen Crowley and C-3 Treasurer Karen Madsen, both from Snohomish County!